5 Tips for Making More Money Online

The Internet, smartphones, and other digital innovations have given entrepreneurs unprecedented opportunities to reach customers, expand sales, and make money online.

If you seek a fortune through online business, it’s important to start with the fundamentals.

The following business basics will give you the foundation for success in the digital economy:

1. Solve a Problem

Customers don’t want to buy goods and services; they want to buy solutions.

The first step in building an online business is thus to identify a problem or set of problems that many people have and that you can solve. Any product or service you sell should be geared toward that solution.

Problem-solving is essential if you want to communicate why potential customers can buy from you.

Simply telling people positive things about your product or services isn’t enough if they can’t see how they would use those wares in their own lives.

But if you identify a real problem they have and offer a comprehensive solution to it, customers will have no trouble tying your offers to their needs, making them more likely to buy.

2. Stay Focused

Once you know what problem you’ll be dealing with, you need to come up with a comprehensive list of steps that you must take to solve it.

For online businesses, such steps generally include…

Setting up a website

Creating social media pages

Hiring staff with the requisite skills

Figure out the order in which you need to do these things, and then follow that order.

It’s important that you focus on one step at a time rather than trying to do everything at once.

This lets you make sure that you get each step done right and can build on it.

It also ensures that you do not become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information and responsibilities you have, and can continue to make steady progress.

3. Learn From Your Mistakes

Oscar Wilde once said that experience is just the name we give our mistakes.

This is especially true in business…

While trying to establish a company online, you’ll likely do lots of things wrong.

Perhaps you’ll post a picture on your company’s social media page that is misinterpreted to mean something inappropriate, or you’ll pursue a customer for so long that you annoy them and harm your reputation.

When these things happen, don’t get discouraged. Just ask yourself what you could have done better, and then apply that lesson in future endeavors.

4. Continue to Learn and Innovate

No successful business can stand still, especially not in the digital age, when you have to compete with new, insightful entrepreneurs from all over the world.

To stay competitive, it is essential that you update your products and services on a regular basis.

Pay attention to new software, equipment, and other technologies that could solve your central problem more effectively than your current methods can.

Then adopt this new tech as quickly as you can.

Staying up to date doesn’t just mean updating your products and services; it also requires that you expand your own knowledge.

Whether by reading books and articles, going to conferences, or attending continuing education classes, you should take advantage of every opportunity to expand your skills and gain new insights.

Only then will you be prepared for any contingency that may arise in an evolving economy.

5. Learn About Your Competitors

As soon as possible once you’re in business, learn as much as you can about your competitors.

Visit their websites and social media pages and find out what specific products and services they offer, as well as what their customers are saying about them.

Repeat this research on a regular basis or any time that a new company enters the market so that you are always up to date.

Researching your competitors allows you to find out what they are doing better than you and improve your business accordingly.

But even more importantly, it lets you figure out their biggest weaknesses and use that information to gain market share.

Say a competitor is known for having poor customer service.

If you offer the best possible customer service and promote your company on that basis, you can capture many of their customers who were dissatisfied with them for this reason.

In this way, you can expand your market share and establish yourself as the most valuable player in the industry.

What are your biggest challenges for building your business online?

When people hear your name or hear about your brand, what words do you want them to think about? Curious about the mistakes people make that are keeping them from wealth? Check out my free Ebook, The 5 Reasons Most People Don’t Become Wealthy.

About Brian Tracy — Brian is recognized as the top sales training and personal success authority in the world today. He has authored more than 60 books and has produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on sales, management, business success and personal development, including worldwide bestseller The Psychology of Achievement. Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. You can follow him on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin and Youtube.